Peacebringer

Chapter Eighteen - Good News

In the middle of their laughter, there was a knock at the door. Tana entered quickly, making sure to shut the door behind her.

"Good morning you two! I'm so glad you had the chance to talk. Valda, your assistance is requested at our strategy meeting today. Asha, you are invited as well!"

"Me?" Asha said incredulously. "Why me?"

"I told our council about your impressive spinning," Tana smiled encouragingly. "They want you on one of our mission teams."

Asha could barely contain herself in excitement. Not only had she impressed Tana, she had impressed her to the point that they wanted her help! Maybe joining the resistance was worth it after all! She thought.

"What is our next mission?" Valda inquired.

"We'll have to talk about it more at the meeting with the council present. I just wanted to make sure you both knew to come. We'll have it before lunch time so we can spend the afternoon in teams."

"Sounds perfect!" Valda looked pleased. "We'll see you in a few hours then!"

"Oh, Asha," Tana turned. "Make sure Finn and Havi know to come as well. Havi has been tagging along for a while, his Father is on our council, but Finn needs to be there too."

"Okay, I'll let them know."

Tana turned with a wave and left, leaving Asha and the Princess alone again.

"Let's go tell the boys!" Asha said excitedly. She and Valda raced next door. On the way, Asha realized that Valda was probably almost the same age as Havi's older sister, Natalya.

They didn't even knock on Havi's door, they just stormed in. "HAVI! WE HAVE NEWS! WHERE'S FINN?" Asha called, louder than she had intended.

"SHHH IT'S 9 IN THE MORNING WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" Finn screamed back across the house.

"BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP!" came a voice that could only be Natalya.

Havi wandered into the front room where Asha and Valda were standing, still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Why is everyone in this house so loud?" He mumbled through a yawn. "Mornings are supposed to be quiet. Mornings are for sleeping. Mornings are for not waking Havi up."

"Good morning to you too!" Said Valda cheerily. Havi glared at her before fully comprehending who she was.

"I...uh...good morning your highness..." Havi's face turned red in embarrassment from his sleep-deprived comment. Between the red face and disheveled hair from sleep, he was a mess.

But an adorable mess, Asha thought. While she had finally accepted that she had feelings for Havi, she was determined not to let them show. They had a war to fight. And besides, she had only known him for a few days now, what did she know?

I know that my stomach feels like jelly everytime I see him, she thought.

Valda smiled kindly, taking no offense at Havi's sleepy rambling.

"Tana came to us this morning," Asha finally said, sparing Havi from further shame. "Where's Finn?"

"Fixing his hair...which he has probably been doing for the last twenty minutes." Havi shrugged. "You know, it takes time and effort to make your hair look that messy. It's not like he's a SHAPESHIFTER or anything."

Both the princess and Asha giggled at the jab. It was true, Finn's hair always looked intentionally out of place, like he wanted to let you know how little he cared about his appearance, while still looking good. It was clearly a source of vanity for him.